Guzmania are predominantly epiphytic with a few terrestrial species and are native to the tropics. For the most part species vary in diameter from 7 or 8 inches to 3 or 4 feed and have rosettes of glossy, smooth edged leaves.
Floral bracts of Guzmania frequently have brilliant colors and may last for many months. The range of colors for Guzmania is generally from yellow through orange but may also include flame red and red-purple. White or yellow, tubular, three petalled flowers may also appear on a stem or within the leaf rosette but are usually short lived.
Guzmania may be advantageously grown as pot plants for greenhouse or home use. Desirably the plants are shaded from direct sunlight and during the spring to autumn period the central vase-like part of the leaf rosette is desirably filled with water.
Guzmania is native to tropical America. Leaves of Guzmania are usually formed as basel rosettes which are stiff and entire and in several vertical ranks. Guzmania have terminal spikes or panicles which are often bracted with petals united in a tube about as long as the calyx. The ovary is superior and the seeds plumose.
Asexual propagation of Guzmania is frequently done through the use of tissue culture practices. Propagation can also be from off-shoots produced by the plant which may then be rooted. The resulting plantlets are detached from the mother plant and may be potted up in a suitable growing mixture.
Methods for cultivation and crossing of Guzmania are well known. For a detailed discussion, reference is made to the following publications, which are incorporated herein by reference. Benzing, David H., The Biology of the Bromeliads, Mad River Press, Inc., Eureka (1980); Zimmer, Karl, Bromelien, Verlag Paul Parey, Berlin (1986); and Rauh, Werner, Bromelien, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (1981).
The new cultivar `Twist` is a product of a planned breeding program and was originated by the inventors from a cross made during such a program in Assendelft, The Netherlands, in 1987. The male or pollen parent was a proprietary selection of Guzmania wittmackii minor identified by Code No. 8719802. The female or seed parent was a proprietary selection of Guzmania lingulata minor identified by Code No. 8719801.
The selection comprising the new variety was chosen from among progeny of the above cross following commencment of flowering in 1989 in Assendelft, The Netherlands. The selection was first asexually propagated through off-shoots by, or under the supervision of, the inventors in Assendelft, with subsequent asexual reproduction through tissue culture. Continuous asexual propagation has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new cultivar `Twist`, as observed in Assendelft, the Netherlands, are firmly fixed and are retained through successeive generations of asexual reproduction.
`Twist` has not been tested under all available environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary with variations in environmental conditions such as temperature, light intensity, frequency of fertilization, composition of fertilizer, acetylene treatment, day length and humidity without, however, any change in the genotype of the new cultivar.
The closest comparison cultivars are `Limbo` U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,514 and `Salsa` U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,369. In comparison to `Limbo` and `Salsa`, the cultivar `Twist` has a greater lilac part of the inflorescence and a brighter cream-white part. Overall, `Twist` has a more compact growth habit and produces a lilac-white inflorescence.